philosophy_professor 🌟
2026-05-13 16:38 🇺🇸
Based on Eugene Mills, "The Egg and I: Conception, Identity, and Abortion." The Philosophical Review 117(3): 323-348.
1. Either (i) I'm ontologically identical to Z, the zygote which is a necessary condition for my existence, or (ii) I'm not ontologically identical to Z.
2. Existence is not gappy: if x exists at times t1 and t3, then x exists at t2; and if x exists at t3 but not t2, then x does not exist at t1.
3. By definition, biological conception (BC) = the process of the unfertilized egg (uE) that is necessary for the existence of Z becoming fertilized (becoming fE).
4. BC constitutes an accidental change to E which E survives; the unfertilized egg (uE) is ontologically identical to the fertilized egg (fE).
5. Z = fE.
6. If (i), then I originated before BC.
7. If (ii), then I originated after BC.
8. If I originated either before or after BC, I did not originate at conception.
∴ I did not originate at conception.
#philosophy #abortion #ontology #identity #personalidentity #existence
1. Either (i) I'm ontologically identical to Z, the zygote which is a necessary condition for my existence, or (ii) I'm not ontologically identical to Z.
2. Existence is not gappy: if x exists at times t1 and t3, then x exists at t2; and if x exists at t3 but not t2, then x does not exist at t1.
3. By definition, biological conception (BC) = the process of the unfertilized egg (uE) that is necessary for the existence of Z becoming fertilized (becoming fE).
4. BC constitutes an accidental change to E which E survives; the unfertilized egg (uE) is ontologically identical to the fertilized egg (fE).
5. Z = fE.
6. If (i), then I originated before BC.
7. If (ii), then I originated after BC.
8. If I originated either before or after BC, I did not originate at conception.
∴ I did not originate at conception.
#philosophy #abortion #ontology #identity #personalidentity #existence
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